Strategic planning should not be a task behavioral health organizations do only to satisfy regulatory concerns. True, agencies such as the Council on Accreditation (COA) and CARF require that organizations have a strategic plan. And as a result, many of these agencies do so, at the last minute. Six months, three months before, to fulfill their obligations for accreditation. But shouldn’t the purpose of having an organization, whether large or small, be to follow a path and purpose?
When a company engages in strategic planning, they evaluate the past, forecast the future, and develop the path forward. According to famous Harvard University Business Professor Clayton Christensen, "Most people think of strategy as an event, but that’s not the way the world works. When we run into unanticipated opportunities and threats, we have to respond. Sometimes we respond successfully; sometimes we don’t. But most strategies develop through this process. More often than not, the strategy that leads to success emerges through a process that works 24/7 in almost every industry."
Strategic planning can be done for one year, three years, five year periods, and upwards. But once a plan is put into place, it will need tweaking. For example, most organizations have difficulty forecasting the future. This is because they cannot predict all trends or outcomes, external or internal, that occur (who could have predicted COVID, or the rise in telehealth?). BetterUp discusses how “strategic planning is the ability to think through ways to achieve desired outcomes.” Forbes discusses its five-step approach. The best a company can do is evaluate what occurred in the past year and how their accomplishments and challenges compared to what they predicted. For example, if a behavioral health organization thought they would increase client access by 10% and it only was 5%, they can examine the causes for the shortfall. Was it unrealistic projections, barriers to incoming clients, lack of community outreach, or a combination? Then as the organization looks to the future year, they can look at how they can more accurately develop a picture of their plan.
For a Board of Directors or leadership team, strategic planning helps them to assess needed resources, purchases, or other program requirements. For example, if an organization will be getting a grant to work with migrant children who do not speak English, they will have to identify staff who are bilingual and bicultural in the children’s language. This means increasing recruitment, onboarding, and training efforts, along with possible bonuses to entice and retain staff.
Strategic planning doesn’t always have to do with growth. Some organizations want to keep their basic services but improve them. For example, a residential facility wants to reduce restraints, runaways, and special incident reports. They will identify the causes of these events and develop plans to improve training, resources, and other collaborations to improve their treatment outcomes.
Whatever your organization plans to do in the upcoming year, it should have a strategy, a solid approach that means something to everyone from the leaders to the line staff. When all levels of the organization know the results of strategic planning, they come together and work as a unified force.
Praxes provides consulting for organizations on developing meaningful strategic plans and preparing for accreditation. For more information, please contact us.
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PRAXES is a nationwide behavioral health software, consulting, and training company. No one in the behavioral health industry has a better reputation, and if you give us the chance, we’ll show you why! At PRAXES, our services improve the efficiency and structure of behavioral health agencies serving children and families nationwide. PRAXES brings over 45 years of administrative and clinical expertise. With more than 100 client companies nationwide, we offer the expertise to advance the quality of behavioral health services. We accomplish these goals through our new clinical decision software, our training of best practices, and helping companies meet regulatory standards. At PRAXES, we believe in being creative and fostering new ways to serve children and their families. Our vision is to empower the families our agencies serve with skills that not only improve their functioning, but help them to thrive in their everyday lives. When you give us the chance, you’ll be connected directly to our friendly staff, so you can expect immediate attention to your inquiry. So, don’t wait, call now!
Dan Thorne has unique perspectives on the field of mental health. As a clinician, he has had over 40 years of experience working with clients in the Southern California area. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Irvine, he worked with children in the Orange County Juvenile Hall. Here he honed his earliest techniques on at-risk children. After that, he obtained his Master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton.
In the 1990’s, Dan turned his attention to the clinical and administrative side of behavioral health organizations. For three years, he was the Assistant Administrator of Starting Point, a chemical dependency facility in Costa Mesa, CA. In 2001, he took an opportunity to be the Director of Harbor View Community Services Center in Long Beach. When he arrived, the Center had only 80 clients and 13 staff. When he left, there were over 400 clients and 75 staff. Dan created several programs through their contract with the Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health and Child and Family Services. Under his guidance, Harbor View became one of the leading providers of children’s services in Los Angeles County.
While improving the results of the client’s parents at the Center, Dan reflected on his experiences as a parent. His children themselves had special needs such as mental and intellectual challenges, and Dan knew the toll it takes on the parent. In order to help the child, the parent has to be healthy. From this concept, he created his parenting program. After years of refining it, teaching it to his staff at the Center, and then taking the results and comments from these efforts, he became the developer of the current PRAXES program. It is a culmination of Dan’s personal trials and tribulations as a parent along with empirical results and research of over 40 parenting programs.
Our vision at PRAXES is to advance the strength of parents and caregivers of children with special needs (mental health, intellectual, or physical) through education, support, and empowerment. Thus, they can live healthy and functional lives while caring for the child.
Apogee is a clinical decision software designed to help behavioral health practitioners with their treatment and patient engagement. It provides evidence-based and research-based components. Not only do they consist of elements from such practices as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Seeking Safety, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Functional Behavior Analysis, but also the Intensive Models for Parents, Youth, and Children.
PRAXES has over 30 years of accreditation experience. We know what it takes to get your organization accredited. Whether it’s Joint Commission, CARF, or COA, our team can provide an evaluation of your current status and review the standards which need improvements. We will assist you with the policies, documentation, and training required to be accredited.
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